armstrong



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. A. ARMSTRONG. PHOTOGRAPHIG CAMERA.

Patented Mar. 28, 1893.

(No Model.) 2 Sheet-Sheet 2.

W. A. ARMSTRONG.

PHOTOGRAPHIG CAMERA. No. 494,517. Patented Mar. 28, 1893.

m: Nonms PETERS co. monimna. 'wuumsmn. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEtcE.

WILLIAM A. ARMSTRONG, OF I\IIL\VAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THEARMSTRONG CAMERA COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 494,517, dated March28, 1893.

Application filed August 1, 1892.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. ARMSTRONG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and inthe State of \Visconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Photographic Cameras; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in photographiccameras, and it consists in the matters hereinafter described andpointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1, is ahorizontal sectional view of a device constructedin accordance with myinvention, said section being taken on line 11 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2, is avertical sectional view of the same taken on line 2-2, of Fig. 3. Fig.3, is a view in elevation of the front of the camera. Fig. 4, is adetail vertical sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, isadetail elevation of theshutter. Fig. 6, is a detail .vertical sectionalview taken on line 66 of Fig. 7, with the hood removed. Fig. 7,is a viewpartly in section and partly in elevation, of a portion of the hood atthe back of the lens. Fig. 8, is a horizontal sectional view of thedevice for vertically adjusting the lens.

In said drawings:-A represents the lens of any description. The lens Ais secured in a horizontal position in a transverse, cylindrical openingI), in a vertically disposed cylindrical block B, which is axiallyjournaled at its top and bottom in a housing comprising top and bottomdisks B B, and a cylindrical shell or tube C arranged between saiddisks. This housing is suitably secured in the usual verticallyabjustable lens board D at the front side of the camera. The lens isarranged Within the block B, in such a position that a line drawnvertically through the axis of the block B would pass through theoptical center of the lens. The front and rear sides of the shell 0 areprovided with horizontally elongated openings 0 O of a width equal to orgreater than the diameter of the lens A, so as to permit the block Bwith the lensA to be rotated from side to side without obstruction tothe passage of light through the lens, while Serial No. 441,802. (Nomodel.)

at the same time preventing the light from penetrating past either sideof the opening so as to injure the film. A narrow elongated box or hoodE is secured to the rear side of the block B, and a tubular extension Eis preferably arranged in rear of the lens tube and projects somedistance into the hood E. The usual bellows F is provided, which iconnected at its front edges, with the lens front as shown, and at itsrear edges, is secured to a back which comprises upper and lower framepieces G G which are shaped at their rear edges upon arcs of circlesconcentric with the axis of the cylindrical block B, and end pieces G G,suitable ribs or flanges g g being provided upon the inner surfaces ofthe top and bottom pieces G G, adjacent to the curved rear edgesthereof. A curved frame H carrying a correspondingly shaped ground glassor translucent film H is adapted to the curved back of the camera, andwhen in position rests against the ribs or flanges g g on the top andbottom pieces G G. One of the end pieces G is conveniently provided witha verticallydisposed flange g which extends laterally in position toengage with the rear surface of the end of the curved frame H, to holdthe same position against the ribs g g. Bars I I are suitably hinged tothe rear edge of the bottom board G, at its middle and the end oppositethe flange g respectively and are arranged to be engaged at their upperends with the top piece G and to engage with the rear surface of theframe Hin an obvious manner to assist in holding it in place against theribs 9 g. In this manner the ground glass or focusing film is held inposition at the back of the camera and is disposed in the form of acylindrical curve concentric with the optical centerof the lens, so thatthe image thrown by the lens upon every part of said glass will coincidewith the sensitive film that receives the impression. After focusing thecamera, frame II and the ground glass or film may be removed, and asimilarly shaped frame carryinga sensitive plate orfilm substituted inan obvious manner. The camera is preferably mounted upon the usual baseJ, and an adjusting screw j is passed through a transverse piece J atthe rear of said base and is engaged with alug or projection j upon thebottom board G, and serves to adjust the back part of the camera for thepurpose of focusing in the usual manner.

The hood E is conveniently provided at its free end with a shutter 6adapted to normally close the slot or opening therein, and a suitablespring e is connected to a pin e upon the hood E at one end and with apin 6 on the shutter, at its other end, thearrangementbeing such thatwhen the shutter is in its closed position, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 1, the tension of the spring will serve to hold it closed, and whenthe shutter is opened and occupies the position shown in full lines insaid figure, the tension of said spring will serve to keep the shutteropen. A projection e is provided on the free edge of the shutter e andis arranged to come into contact with a stop 6 at one side of the cameraback when the lens and the attached hood have been oscillated to thelimit of their movement in one direction, and a stop 6 is provided atthe other side of the camera back and is arranged to engage with theshutter 6 when the lens and hood have been oscillated to the limit oftheir movement in the opposite direction. It follows from thisconstruction, that an oscillation of the lens and chamber in onedirection will by engagement of the projection c with stop a, operate toopen the shutter, which will now be held open by the spring, andanoscillation of the parts in the opposite direction will bring the slotor opening in the end of the hood successively opposite to every portionof the sensitized plate or film, supported in the curved frame at therear of the camera, until the hood reaches the limit of its movement,when the impact of the shutter against the stop a will operate to movesaid shutter into its closed position, where it will be held by means ofthe spring. The hood E is conveniently secured upon the outside of theextension E by means ofhooks ffnpon opposite sides of said hood, whichengage with suitable catches f f secured to the rear part of the blockB, the forward end of the said chamber being preferably rounded orcurved as best shown in Fig.7 so as to permit the rear end of the hoodto be adjusted vertically without affecting the engagement of the hooksf f with the catches f f. I also prefer to provide a notched plate fupon the under side of the hood and a spring arm f supported upon theblockB and arranged to engage at its free ends with the notches in saidplate. This spring arm serves to sustain the hood E in its adjustedposition within the camera. The rear side of the block B is preferablycut away as at b for the reception of the forward end of the hood E, asshown and by this construction light is effectually prevented fromleaking past the junction of the hood and the tubular extension E.

The pivotal support for the block B within the housing consists of aspindle K secured as at k to the upper part of the block and extendingupward through a tubularsleevek which is arranged to extend up throughthe top disk B as shown. The lower end of the block B is provided with atrunnion stepped in a bearing in the lower disk B. A handle or lever Kis connected with the upper end of the rod K and projects rearwardly soas to be within reach of the operator as he stands behind the camera. Toelevate and depress the lens, it is desirable to provide means forvertically adjusting the front or lens board of the camera, and for thispurpose the lens board B is mounted between standards L L located atopposite sides of the front part of the frame, said standards beingconveniently provided with notched plates L L as shown.

arranged between said rods or bars so as to normally hold the bars inengagement with the notched plates. Projecting thumb pieces m m areconveniently provided upon the inner ends of the rods or bars M M, bymeans of which they may be retracted outof engagement with the notchedplates. By this construction, the lens may be readily adjusted in avertical direction so as to cover the desired field of view.

In using my improved camera, the operator after adjusting the camera inproper position places the curved frame that holds the ground glass ortranslucent film in position at the back of the camera, when bytheoperation of the lever, he moves the lens and the swinging hood at itsrear, to the limit of its movement, the shuttle or cover of said hoodbeing opened in the manner before described,when he may oscillate thelens and said hood so as to project the several parts of the viewsuccessively upon the ground glass or film. He may, by means of theadjusting screw at the back of the camera, move the back nearer to orfarther from the lens, so as to obtain a per fectly sharp focus. Afterthe instrument has been properly adjusted and focused,he operates thelever to close the shutter in the manner before described,and thenremoves the frame carrying the ground glass or film and substitutes inits stead, a holder carrying a sensitized plate or film, covered in theusual manner by a slide, and then withdraws said slide. He now operatesthe lever in the manner before described to swing or oscillate the lensand the chamber to one side and to open the shutter, when, by a movementof the lever in the opposite direction, he brings the slot at the rearend of said chamber successively opposite to every part of thesensitized surface of the plate or film, the shutter being automaticallyclosed when the chamber reaches the other side of the camera as beforedescribed. If some portion of the View contains dark objects such as aclump of trees, or dense shadows, which would require longer tooexposure in order to secure detail in the negative, the operator maymove the lever more slowly while the lens is directed toward thisportion of the View than during the exposure of the remainder of thenegative. In this manner, a perfect negative may be obtained of a viewcontaining a great variety of subjects.

My improved apparatus is exceedingly well adapted to street views andlandscape photography and the device may be arranged to take in at onesweep of the lens a very wide extent of View.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A photographic camera, comprisinga cylindric, vertically disposedhousing provided with suitable horizontally elongated apertures in itsfront and rear walls, a back constructed upon a cylindric curveconcentric with said housing, a suitable bellows extending from saidhousing to said curved back, a cylindric block fitted within said casingand provided at its upper and lower ends with suitable trunnions andalso provided with a transverse bore, a lens secured within said borewith its optical center upon the axial line of said block, and suitablemeans upon the outside of the camera, for oscillating said block uponits trunnions,substantially as set forth.

2. A photographic camera, comprising a cylindric, vertically disposedhousing, provided with suitable horizontally elongated apertures in itsfront and rear walls, a back constructed upon'a cylindric curveconcentric with said housing and provided with suitable means forholding a sensitized plate or film, a suitable bellows extending fromsaid housing to said curved back, a block, cylindrical in cross sectionand fitted within said cylindric housing and provided at its upper andlower ends with suitable trunnions, a transverse bore in said block, alens supported in said bore with its optical center upon the axial lineof said block, a hood secured to the rear side of said block andextendin rearward through the aperture in said cylindric housing, andprovided in its rear end with a narrow, vertical slot, and suitablemeans upon the outside of the camera for oscillating said block upon itstrunnions, substantially as set forth.

3. A photographic camera, comprisinga cylindric, vertically disposedhousing, provided with suitable horizontally elongated apertures in itsfront and rear walls, a back constructed upon a cylindric curveconcentric with said housing and provided with suitable means forholding a sensitized plate or film, a suitable bellows extending fromsaid housing to said curved back, a block, cylindrical in cross sectionand fitted within said cylindric housing and provided at its upper andlower ends with suitable trunnions, a transverse bore in said block, alens supported in said bore with its optical center upon the axial lineof said block, a hood secured to the rear side of said block andextending rearward through the aperture in said cylindric housing, andprovided in its rear end with a narrow vertical slot, a shutter hingedto one side of the rear end of said hood and adapted to normally closesaid slot, means for opening and closing said shutter, and suitablemeans upon the outside of the camera for oscillating said block upon itstrunnions, substantially as set forth.

4:. A photographic camera, comprising a vertically adjustable front, avertically disposed, cylindric housing secured thereto and provided withhorizontally elongated apertures in its front and rear walls, acylindric block fitted within said housing and mounted upon suitabletrunnions, a transverse bore in said block a lens supported horizontallyin said block with its optical center upon the axial line of the block,a back constructed upon a cylindric curve concentric with said axialline a suitable bellows extending from said housing to said curved back,a hood secured to the rear side of the block and communicating with therearend of the lens tube, a narrow vertical slot in the rear end of saidhood, a spring shutter for closing said slot, suitable means for settingthe shutter open when the chamber is at the limit of its movement in onedirection, and suitable means for closing said shutter when the hoodreaches the limit of its movement in the opposite direction,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of \Viscousin, in thepresence of two witnesses.

IVILLIAM A. ARMSTRONG.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, ALICE BIRLER.

